Microsoft's acquisition of Minecraft fits with CEO Satya Nadella's goal of building its gaming business and selling software for other platforms, but some partners believe the software giant has even bigger aims.

With some of the biggest vendors in the tech industry putting their weight into the market -- Google, Apple and Samsung, to name a few -- some partners see the smartwatch market taking off in the next six to 12 months.

VMware is going all-out to usurp Citrix and other rivals in the end-user computing space, and it's bringing back a former product manager who has spent time at Apple and MobileIron in recent years to help out.

Microsoft is planning to get more aggressive about closing volume licensing opportunities that come in through its retail stores, but partners that sell licensing say this could take a bite out of their revenue.

The Chinese government banned 10 Apple products, including the iPad, iPad Mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Being blacklisted from a growing market such as China could lower the ceiling for potential in the company's partnership with IBM, leaving Chinese vendors such as Lenovo and Huawei to reap the benefits.

Microsoft's Developer Experience team, a 13-year-old internal unit that works with third-party developers, is moving to Microsoft's SMSG group, where it'll report to COO Kevin Turner for the first time.